


The Word Wall

by marieelizabeth



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, just a headcannon ive always had about the word walls, there needs to be more rumarin fanfic so i am contributing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-07 23:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marieelizabeth/pseuds/marieelizabeth
Summary: Rumarin and Pennelope delve into Bleak Falls Barrow to find the dragonstone for Farengar. They aren't prepared for what's stored inside.





	The Word Wall

Pennelope strung her last arrow and hit the draugr square in the eye. 

“I’m sure we’re almost done,” she stated, “this crypt can’t go on for too much longer.”

“You’d think Farengar would have given us an estimated time duration. We’ve been walking and fighting for hours, and we still haven’t found the dragonstone. I might forget what the sky looks like.”

Pennelope rolled her eyes and giggled at her companion’s comment. Sure, delving through an ancient nordic ruin isn’t the most pleasurable experience, but Rumarin always knew how to make her laugh and shake off the adrenaline and worry these quests heave upon her. 

“I mean, we don’t even know what time of day it is! We should have found some random stone and carved scribbles and dragon-like drawings and convince Farengar we found it. I bet he wouldn’t even know the difference.”

“We could have enchanted it too. Maybe make it lightly zap his fingers if he touched it” Pennelope added. 

“That would be well worth a soul gem.”

Pennelope squatted and fiddled with the golden claw they acquired and the massive door blocking their way. “Ugh I hate puzzles,” she sighed. Rumarin watched as she rotated the slats on the door to match the designs on the claw.

“Well it’s good that these doors barely count as puzzles” Rumarin chimed. Pennelope set her face in concentration as she tried to push the designs on the old door. Rumarin saw her focus as an opportunity to stare at her. She was so much shorter than him. Not only because he is a high elf, but she generally ran a few inches shorter than most people they met. She also seemed very delicate. She barely had enough muscles in her arms to continuously shoot her bow. Pennelope was pretty new to the adventuring lifestyle she took up. Her childhood in Bruma rarely exposed her to anything harsh, besides the occasional snow storm. Despite this, she was always full of energy - sometimes to his despair - and wanted to explore every crevice and defeat every creature. Her personality matched her tenacity. She met his banter with jokes of her own. Pennelope was the only person that has ever indulged his bizarre ideas, and her wit knew no end. She’d always listen to him intently, and her beautiful amber eyes would squint in laughter when he joked, and her plush lips would curve into…

“Stop it, Rumarin,” he thought to himself. The idea of having any relationship past “dungeon and traveling companion” made his stomach curl. He didn’t want to admit his feelings for Pennelope, not even to himself.

The door creaked open and Pennelope stood up, only to duck as a horde of bats swooped down. “Ugh yuck!” she cried. “How are bats even in here? What do they eat?”

Rumarin was still trying to refocus from his trance and couldn’t form a rebuttal before Pennelope gasped. “Ru, look at this place!” At the center of the large room was a coffin, chest, and glowing wall. “Can you hear that Ru? It sounds like the wall is shouting.”

“Are you sure you haven’t been drinking any skooma? How could a wall shout? I don’t hear anything.”

As Pennelope walked towards the wall, blue magic started seeping out of the carvings and whirling around her. 

“Ru wha-AHHH!” Pennelope screamed and clutched her head in her hands. She fell to the ground right when the wall stopped producing the magic. 

“Penny!” Right before Rumarin could even process what had just happened, he heard the coffin door burst open and thud against the floor. A fully armed draugr lord groaned and immediately lunged towards Rumarin. Rumarin quickly dodged the strike and conjured his bow. He quickly glanced at Pennelope still unconscious on the floor and realized his only priority is to get the draugr away from her. For once he had to fight offensively, and while he usually would be too scared or lazy to do so, he did not hesitate when the draugr started moving towards Pennelope.

After a stream of conjured arrows pelted the draugr, it finally collapsed on the floor. Rumarin immediately turned his attention to Pennelope. 

“Penny! Get up!” When she didn’t move, Rumarin quickly picked her up and started looking for the exit. “Ugh I don’t even know which way is up. Why can’t these ruins come with a map or tour guide.” he muttered to himself. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally emerged from the crypt and headed straight towards Riverwood. He walked inside the Sleeping Giant’s Inn and gently placed Pennelope on the bed she rented the night before. 

Worry set in as soon as he pulled up a chair to sit next to her bed. As he looked at her unconscious form, fear crept into his mind. He felt as if all of the blood in his body was drained as he wondered if she was dead. “No, no, no. She’s fine, Rumarin,” he thought to himself. He couldn’t blink let alone lift his hand to her wrist to check her pulse. His entire body felt like concrete and his breath shortened. “This shouldn’t have happened. Maybe if I walked to the wall first or if I pulled her away she would still be fine,” he whispered to himself. Right when tears threatened to spill from his eyes did Pennelope shift and slowly open her eyes. 

“Ugh my head.” She rubbed her temples and slowly sat up. “Where am I?” Her gaze was met by a grinning altmer.

“You know if you were tired and wanted me to carry you the rest of the way through the crypt you could have just said so. You didn’t need to pretend to faint. Although, your act was better than most of the troubadours I grew up with.”

Pennelope playfully shoved his shoulder and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know what happened. I remember walking up to the wall and hearing the shouting getting louder. Next thing I know I’m back at the inn.”

“Well maybe we can have Farengar take a look at you when we get back to Dragonsreach. That is if you don’t mind him poking and prodding you with his fancy mage tools. Wait that came out wrong.”

Pennelope’s laughter at the joke released all of the tension and worry Rumarin was harboring inside himself. Everything was fine. Penny was ok.

“That’s not a bad idea, Ru. You found the dragonstone, right?”

Rumarin’s face went blank and his mouth slowly gaped as he realized his mistake. In his rush to get Pennelope to safety, he completely forgot about looking for the dragonstone.

Pennelope sighed and shook her head. “Looks like we’ll have to run through the barrow again. Although it’s your turn to fall unconscious.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so I've never written fanfiction before but I love Rumarin and I've already read all of the fanfiction with him in it so I thought I'd contribute. Sorry for my bad writing lol. Enjoy. I'll be posting more one-shots of my oc Pennelope and the banana elf as time goes by. Hopefully I'll get better.


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